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Read the latest gaming news, get game downloads, mods, patches, and watch game videos at Game Front.Mon, 30 Mar 2015 21:08:58 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1Game Front editors discuss what's going on in the world of video games. Topics often include: the latest news, game releases, controversies, predictions we make (that are often wrong), PC gaming stuff and beyond. Game on!Game FrontnoGame Frontpodcast@gamefront.compodcast@gamefront.com (Game Front)Game Front's weekly podcast covering all things gaming.video games, games, gaming, pc, pc gaming, console gaming, gamer, gamefront, game frontGameFront » From Softwarehttp://www.gamefront.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/gfpodcast-1400.jpghttp://www.gamefront.com
GameFront’s Game of the Year 2014http://www.gamefront.com/gamefronts-game-of-the-year-2014/
http://www.gamefront.com/gamefronts-game-of-the-year-2014/#commentsTue, 23 Dec 2014 19:37:44 +0000GameFront Staffhttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=295176It’s that time of year again – the time when we hand out our Game of the Year award. This...

It’s that time of year again – the time when we hand out our Game of the Year award.

This is never an easy decision. Even in a year with as many problems as 2014, there are still a lot of games that could be in the discussion for Game of the Year. If you want to see how each of our staff members ranked the games of 2014, make sure you check out our Staff’s Top 5 lists.

After much discussion and discourse, we happily present to your our consensus top 5 games of the year, and our Game of the Year for 2014.

I’m going cut to the chase right away: Dark Souls 2 is just as incredible as both prior games in the Souls series.

It’s the rare 50-plus-hour game that never feels padded, never feels like it is wasting your time, and constantly provides the player with unforgettable moments of both triumph and failure. It’s the rare sequel that manages to retain all of the core aspects of what makes the series so spectacular, while changing nearly everything around that core to allow the game to have its own unique identity.

And all of these changes come without compromising the brutal difficulty for which the series has gained such a notorious reputation. In fact, in many ways, Dark Souls 2 is even harder than its predecessors. It’s certainly not for everyone, and that’s a shame, because Dark Souls 2 is a prime example of how rewarding and satisfying playing video games can be.

This is The Talos Principle: You’re a living human playing a computer simulation as a robot playing a computer simulation, and answering philosophical questions posed by another computer about the nature of what it is to be a person.

That’s where The Talos Principle really captures some magic as a game: it pulls you in and engages you on a number of levels, with its huge series of puzzles, its narrative, its meta-narrative, and its meta-meta-narrative. Even if it were just a straight puzzler, it would be a great game whose conundrums constantly belie conceptually simple solutions that usually require you to simply adjust your thinking a bit. It’s constantly rewarding you with those moments in which you exclaim, “Of course!” when a nagging solution suddenly becomes obvious.

But there’s a lot more ambition at play from Croteam and writers Tom Jubert (FTL, The Swapper) and Jonas Kyratzes (The Sea Will Claim Everything). The deep discussions of philosophy and humanity might interest everyone, but The Talos Principle does a beautiful job of utilizing the medium of games to convey ideas and narrative in a uniquely “video game” way.

It’s a game that aspires to be more than what we traditionally expect, and one that has an intangible quality that makes it more than the sum of its parts. It’ll stay with you after you’ve completed it and call you back to explore its hidden corners to see what else you’ll uncover there.

The major triumph of Inquisition is how well the world is built around you. There are so many little things to find, whether it’s notes from people long gone, tomes of ancient wisdom, or just an abandoned old bottle of wine, and each of them helps make the world feel more real.

The story presents choices that remind us that even when you’re striving for good, there are myriad ways to reach the destination you have in mind. Should you execute the man who tried to kill you, slap him in chains, or put him to work? All of the decisions you make have repercussions, as certain party members or even entire factions may object to your choices. Better than either of the previous Dragon Age games, Inquisition makes you feel as if you’re affecting the world with nearly every choice you make.

Dragon Age: Inquisition is a huge moment for Bioware. In crafting a stellar RPG, it has shown those who thought the developer might be past its prime that it still has what it takes. Bioware also assuages the fears of folks like me, who thought the company was ditching high-end PC titles for console parity. In short, the developers have gone a long way toward winning me back.

Regardless of how you feel about Bioware, you owe it to yourself to give Dragon Age: Inquisition a try. It’s a great game from start to finish, one that lets you do just about whatever you want, and then rewards you for just about all of it. While it does have some minor problems, they don’t detract from the quality of the whole. The way the world responds to, and builds itself around, your character makes Inquisition a must-play for any RPG enthusiast.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/gamefronts-game-of-the-year-2014/feed/11Mitch’s Top 5 Games of 2014http://www.gamefront.com/mitchs-top-5-games-of-2014/
http://www.gamefront.com/mitchs-top-5-games-of-2014/#commentsThu, 18 Dec 2014 17:36:37 +0000Mitchell Saltzmanhttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=294767Editor’s Note: All this week, we’ll be featuring the top 5 games of 2014 from each of our individual staffers,...

Editor’s Note: All this week, we’ll be featuring the top 5 games of 2014 from each of our individual staffers, culminating in our Game of the Year announcement next week. Stay tuned and check out top 5 lists from Phil, Ron, and James!

I’ve read all around that most people consider 2014 to be a pretty crap year for video games, and I’m inclined to agree to an extent. Most of the hotly anticipated games of 2014 got pushed back to 2015, and the ones that remained, well, they mostly fell on their faces.

Titanfall didn’t make nearly the kind of splash that most thought it would due to its lack of content at launch, Destiny eventually became Chore Simulator 2014 once you got to level 20, Assassin’s Creed Unity was a buggy mess, Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s matchmaking was busted for the first month of its existence, and that’s just a few of the many AAA disappointments of the year.

So I can understand why people might think that 2014 wasn’t one of gaming’s best years. That being said, 2014 was a transformative year for the Wii-U, which finally has a slew of games that are worth owning in the holiday season. It also saw the conclusions of two incredible Telltale series and the highly promising beginnings of two more; It saw the release of one of the most addictive collectible card games ever in Hearthstone; and if you felt let down by AAA, 2014 was a great year for indies with Binding of Isaac Rebirth, The Banner Saga, Towerfall Ascension, Shovel Knight, and the #5 game on my top 5 list, just to name a few.

So yeah, 2014 wasn’t the best year of video games, but amid all of the disappointments, there were some shining gems that I think deserve special attention.

#5. The Talos Principle

Every couple of years or so, I play a game with almost zero publicity or industry buzz about it and within an hour or two I think to myself, “Whoa… This game is special.” The Talos Principle is one such game.

A first person philosophical puzzler, The Talos Principle is exceedingly clever in both its gameplay design and its story. On the gameplay side of things, the game is enormous in terms of the sheer amount of puzzles that it throws your way.

Three worlds, each with seven chambers, and each chamber containing anywhere from four to seven puzzles for you to solve. The game is also great at introducing new puzzle mechanics whenever you feel like you’ve mastered the previous ones, just like all great puzzle games should. Add on to that a healthy helping of secret collectibles, easter eggs, and other hidden goodies that only the hardest of hardcore puzzle fanatics will likely be able to uncover by themselves.

If The Talos Principle didn’t even bother to include any kind of context or plot and simply consisted of a series of clever puzzles, it would still be able to stand on its own legs as a pretty great puzzle game. But the fact that it also includes one of the most thought provoking stories of the year is what truly sets it apart from the pack and makes it one of the best games of the year. Need more convincing? Go check out Phil Hornshaw’s stellar review.

#4. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is a game that borrows a lot of ideas from other games. It’s got the combat system from the Arkham games and takes many of its mechanics liberally from the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Yet despite utilizing so many well-known gameplay mechanics from other games, Shadow of Mordor still manages to feel wholly unique and fresh.

A lot of that can be attributed to the Nemesis System, which Ron has already touched upon in his top 5 list for the year, but I think Monolith deserves more credit for taking those mechanics from Assassin’s Creed and Batman and integrating them so well into their own game. Hell, in some cases, they even improved upon them. One of the biggest flaws about the Arkham games is that combat, for the most part, was kind of easy. Once you understood the flow of combat and could anticipate attacks, enemies didn’t pose much of a threat, even on harder difficulties.

Not the case in Shadow of Mordor. If you tried to waltz right into an enemy stronghold trying to take on the warchief without knowing its weaknesses and strengths, you were going to be in for a tough fight; one that you might actually have to run away from. Imagine that, running away from a battle not because it’s part of the mission, or because you’re trying to reduce the amount of law enforcement on your tail, but because you’re outmatched.

That almost never happens in video games. It works so well here because of some extremely smart design choices that make death something that you genuinely want to avoid. Not just because it makes your enemies stronger, but because it’s embarrassing. You have to deal with that stupid uruk rubbing the fact that you lost your last battle right in your face.

Shadow of Mordor’s story involving Talion and Celebrimbor may not be the most exciting story ever told in Middle-Earth, but you can create some great stories of your own organically as you play through the game, hunting down warchiefs and turning them against their own kind.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/mitchs-top-5-games-of-2014/feed/1James’ Top 5 Games of 2014http://www.gamefront.com/james-top-5-games-of-2014/
http://www.gamefront.com/james-top-5-games-of-2014/#commentsWed, 17 Dec 2014 21:58:22 +0000James Heaneyhttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=294843Editor’s Note: All this week, we’ll be featuring the top 5 games of 2014 from each of our individual staffers,...

Editor’s Note: All this week, we’ll be featuring the top 5 games of 2014 from each of our individual staffers, culminating in our Game of the Year announcement next week. Stay tuned!

In 2014, there were a lot of brain-numbing, trashy titles I wish I could include on my list in the same way I’d like to include Evil Dead on my favorite films list. Games like Roundabout, I am Bread, Goat Simulator, and Five Night’s at Freddy’s 1 and 2 gave me lots of laughs and undeniably great times.

In fact when I look back on 2014, I will fondly remember it as the year of ridiculous games. While they each leave an impression, I don’t think they truly earn a spot on my favorites list. The following games I feel simply shined just a little brighter:

5. The Sims 4

It was more difficult for me to choose this last spot than any of the others. In fact, when I first put it on my list, I was certain it was just a placeholder to use until I remembered my real fifth favorite.

It ends up, however, that The Sims 4 earns its place on my list the same way it tricks me into playing it for hours at a time. You barely even notice that this life simulation has burned an hour out of your day because you are grinning ear to ear, drunk with the power of being the Immortal wing man to your Sim.

When I look at my Origin account and see that I have dropped 40 hours into this game, all I can think is that I need to drop at least that many more to get the real feel of The Sims 4. And Maxis has provided free updates that have added more variety and depth to a title I already struggle to exhaust.

4. Wasteland 2

I have never played the original Wasteland, but I’d describe its sequel as taking the world and humor of the Fallout series and mixing its gameplay with XCOM. The leveling system is complex and makes each playthrough very different. Sure, I got frustrated with it’s unforgiving nature, but it has yet to break me. I feel the normal difficulty is perhaps too punishing at times.

On the flipside, when I walked away from a battle I had just won, I felt like I missed my calling as a general. What I find fantastic about Wasteland 2 is how bite-sized the gameplay comes across to me. Likely half of the 40-plus hours I have played it were on bus rides in Los Angeles.

Wasteland 2 is a game that I am thankful I can put down just as easily as I pick it up. It does not demand an hour of gameplay to feel like you have reached a “bookmarkable” moment.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/james-top-5-games-of-2014/feed/0Dark Souls: How to Transfer PC Saves from GFWL to Steamhttp://www.gamefront.com/dark-souls-how-to-transfer-pc-saves-from-gfwl-to-steam/
http://www.gamefront.com/dark-souls-how-to-transfer-pc-saves-from-gfwl-to-steam/#commentsTue, 16 Dec 2014 18:51:00 +0000GameFront Staffhttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=294516Preserve your save file and achievements by following these instructions straight from the developers.

Dark Souls is switching over to Steam for it’s online future and leaving Games for Windows Live behind. Owners of the previous version can still transfer achievements and their save game file between December 16 and February 16th. Check out the post below for full instructions on how to make the transition.

CASE 1: If you already purchased Dark Souls™ Prepare To Die Edition prior to December 15th, the following process will be available to February 16th for you to transfer your Save Data and Achievements.

For users who purchased a Game for Windows live version from a retailer (Disc) or Games for Windows Live Marketplace (Digital):

1. We recommend that you add Dark Souls™ Prepare To Die to your Steam account using your serial

2. Launch the game and connect to Games for Windows Live.

3. Run the game (only the currently signed-in user’s Save Data and Achievements can be transferred to Steam).

4. Close the Game.

5. Right click on your game in the Steam Library, go into Properties, check that the BETA tab is set to “dsptde-2.0-“

6. Launch Dark Souls™ Prepare To Die Edition v2.0 from Steam

7. The game will look for previous Save Data and Achievements. If Save Data and Achievements are detected on your computer, you should be able to continue your progress in the game. Achievements should be unlocked in Steam.

For users who purchased a Game for Windows live version from Steam:

1. Launch the game and connect to Games for Windows Live.

2. Run the game (only the currently signed-on user’s progress can be transferred to Steam).

3. Close Games for Windows Live

4. Right click on your game in the Steam Library, go into Properties, check that the BETA tab is set to “dsptde-2.0-“

5. Launch Dark Souls™ Prepare To Die Edition v2.0 from Steam

6. Sign in using the same live profile used in step-2 to import your Save Data and Achievements from the Games for Windows Live version to the Steam version for the same profile (gamertag)

7. The game will look for previous Save Data and Achievements. If they are detected on your computer, you should be able to continue your progress in the game and achievements should be unlocked in Steam.

CASE 2: For users who purchase Dark Souls™ Prepare To Die Edition between December 15th and February 16th:

1. Once the game is downloaded, right click on your game in the Steam library, go into properties, check that the BETA tab is set to “dsptde-2.0-“. The game may ask you to create a Game for Wwindows Live Account, simply discard this request

2. Launch Dark Souls™ Prepare To Die Edition v2.0 from Steam.

CASE 3: For users who purchase Dark Souls™ Prepare To Die Edition on or after February 16th (this will be the steam only version):

Not everything that comes with being a gamer is tech and titles. Wearing your fandom on your sleeve is pretty easy with some great shirts, jackets and hoodies that not only say, “I play games,” but also, “I do it with style, fool.” And if you’re the kind of gamer who wants to occasionally brand him- or herself with their favorite titles, but perhaps not be too obvious about it (haven’t we all had those situations in which a Yoshi shirt is just a little too much), we’ve got that covered too.

Delve into the guide below to find a few of the coolest bits of gaming apparel we’ve come across this year, and feel free to leave your own favorite suggestions in the comments.

Clementine “Still Not Bitten” T-Shirt

Price: $25.52Buy It For: Telltale’s The Walking Dead fans, people who don’t take anybody’s guffBuy it from:RedbubbleRecommended by: Phil Hornshaw

If I had to pick my favorite game character from 2014, it would be — without a doubt — Clementine of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead: Season 2. This shirt is an homage to Clementine’s ass-kicking no-nonsense sure-I’m-a-child-but-that-doesn’t-mean-I’m-not-preternaturally-capable attitude in Episode 1 of Season 2, in which she has to explain to a bunch of jerkish adults that a dog bite and a zombie bite are not the same thing. Featuring Clem’s iconic hat, this shirt tells people that apocalypse or not, they need to back the hell off.

Mass Effect N7 faux-leather jacket

Price: $98.00Buy It For: Mass Effect superfans, that gamer you know who spends just a little too much time looking at Commander Shepard fan artBuy It From:Bioware StoreRecommended by: Phil Hornshaw

Like collectibles, BioWare puts out some pretty impressive pieces of “geeky, but not too geeky” clothing for its fans, and at the top of the heap is the recently released N7 faux-leather jacket. The bad-ass coat is inspired by the armor of everyone’s favorite reporter-punching space savior, featuring the iconic N7 coloring, but it also has going for it the fact that it just looks cool. It’s also fully lined with dual inside pockets, so you can maybe hide a heavy pistol in there — for close encounters.

Sure, we could have gone for the obvious and gaudy “Praise the Sun!” shirt here, but we’re classier than that. This Dark Souls shirt is all about understatement — it’s one of those “only people who KNOW will know” kind of shirts, which is nice, but it’s also features a slick design of the series’ all-important bonfires that’s all artistic and cool-looking. The result is a Dark Souls shirt you can be proud of on multiple levels, and won’t have people wandering up and asking if it’s a shirt referencing a certain British comedy troupes certain movie featuring a certain knight with a certain number of “flesh wounds.”

Wasteland 2 Desert Ranger tee

Price: $21.99Buy It For: Wasteland 2 fans, people who want to gloat about finally backing a Kickstarter that didn’t suckBuy it from:JinxRecommended by: Phil Hornshaw

Another entry in the “understated to its credit” t-shirt category is this Wasteland 2 tee — one that doesn’t feel like you’re wearing somebody else’s billboard on your chest. Instead, it references the game’s Desert Ranger faction, the guys who go out and help survivors of nuclear devastation, uh, be less devastated. The shirt itself is available both in gray and royal blue, but only in men’s versions and sizes or some reason — but if you can get over that fact (should you not happen to be a men), it’s still a cool-looking piece of apparel that shows your love for kickstarting awesome RPGs to other Desert Rangers.

I know, I know, another BioWare thing, but we couldn’t give love to Mass Effect without acknowledging the RPG franchise that actually has an installment this year. In the Dragon Age: Inquisition camp comes this Inquisitor hoodie, which, like the N7 jacket, is perfectly balanced between “I’m a superfan” and “I just threw this on because it’s cool-looking.” The hoodie itself has chain mail print on the arms, a custom zipper, and eyelets to string headphones up through the hood. Just note that as of today, the hoodie is on pre-order and won’t be available till Dec. 1.

By now, we all know the cake is a lie. Thankfully, these leggings aren’t. Chell, the silent protagonist of Portal, might not be best known for her test subject fashion sense, but she has no problem lending some inspiration for your wardrobe. Modeled after the bottom half of Chell’s jumpsuit and her Long Fall Boots, these leggings pair perfectly with a long black shirt or sweater, while adding some geek love to your ensemble.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/gamefronts-holiday-gift-guide-2014-clothing/feed/1Dark Souls 2 Headed to PS4 and Xbox One in a New Special Editionhttp://www.gamefront.com/dark-souls-2-headed-to-ps4-and-xbox-one-in-a-new-special-edition/
http://www.gamefront.com/dark-souls-2-headed-to-ps4-and-xbox-one-in-a-new-special-edition/#commentsTue, 25 Nov 2014 16:57:53 +0000Ron Whitakerhttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=292310There’s a brand new version of Dark Souls 2 coming next year, and it’s coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox...

There’s a brand new version of Dark Souls 2 coming next year, and it’s coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as well.

Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin will incorporate all of the DLC packs that have already been released for the game. It will also bring the game to PS4 and Xbox One. Basically, it’s the ‘complete edition’ that we see so often from popular games. It’s also a chance to pick up the “next-gen” version of the game if you’d like to play it on your new console.

If you buy this new release of Dark Souls 2, you’ll see all of these improvements over the original version of the game (if you already own DS2, you’ll get a patch that adds these to your game):

Additional NPCs added for an enhanced story experience

Parameter adjustments for improved game balance

Augmented item descriptions

Improved online matchmaking functionality

In addition to those features, the Xbox One, PS4, and DirectX 11 (PC) versions of the game will also add these two upgrades:

Additional upgrades to graphics, sound, performance

Increase in maximum online players in single session (6 total)

While it does sound like they’re adding a lot to this version of Dark Souls 2, it will only be 13 months since the game’s initial release date when Scholar of the First Sin hits store shelves. That might be a bit soon for people to be re-buying it.

You can check out the announcement trailer above, and see a few screens of the new release below.

Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin is launching on April 7, 2015 on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/dark-souls-2-headed-to-ps4-and-xbox-one-in-a-new-special-edition/feed/0PS4 Exclusive Bloodborne Delayedhttp://www.gamefront.com/ps4-exclusive-bloodborne-delayed/
http://www.gamefront.com/ps4-exclusive-bloodborne-delayed/#commentsWed, 12 Nov 2014 15:54:03 +0000Stew Shearerhttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=290773From Software’s PS4 exclusive Bloodborne has been delayed until March 2015. The postponement of the game was announced this morning...

From Software’s PS4 exclusive Bloodborne has been delayed until March 2015.

The postponement of the game was announced this morning in posts on the North American and European PlayStation blog. According to statements from Masaaki Yamagiwa, a producer with Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, the game is being pushed back from its originally planned February release in order to ensure the final product attains a standard of high quality.

“While development continues unabated, we would like our team to deliver the best possible final experience,” said Yamagiwa. “We were gratified by the feedback and data we received from those who participated in our limited Alpha test. The extra production time will also allow us to better integrate these learnings.”

Following this announcement, the game will become available in North America on March 24th. The PAL region edition will share that release date while the version heading to the UK and Ireland will launch a few days later on March 27th.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/ps4-exclusive-bloodborne-delayed/feed/1Lords of the Fallen Review: Kindred Soulshttp://www.gamefront.com/lords-of-the-fallen-review/
http://www.gamefront.com/lords-of-the-fallen-review/#commentsTue, 04 Nov 2014 22:05:03 +0000Mitchell Saltzmanhttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=289878Despite a few confusing design decisions that are at odds with the risk vs reward mechanics the game touts, Lords of the Fallen is a solid action/RPG heavily influenced by the Souls series

Lords of the Fallen is a game that is unapologetically similar to the Souls series, particularly Dark Souls.

It is an action RPG with a slow and methodical approach to combat, it takes place in an interconnected open world that is broken up by checkpoints that restore the player’s health potions, and it features a death mechanic involving players dropping their experience at the point of their death, where it must be recovered or lost forever.

This similarity in design not inherently a bad thing — I love the Souls series and think it is fantastic that other game developers are trying their hand at the unique sub-genre of action RPG that From Software has helped to pioneer.

Lords of the Fallen has some great ideas that it adds to the mix as well, most of which build upon the core idea of risk vs reward. Unfortunately, those great ideas are often at odds with certain design decisions made to make Lords of the Fallen more accessible than the games that inspired it, leading to a game that seems to suffer from a bit of an identity crisis.

In Lords of the Fallen, players take control of Harkyn, a criminal whose many sins are forever tattooed upon his face as a reminder to all of his crimes. Well, a reminder to everyone but us. We never learn about Harkyn’s crimes, his past, or really anything about him. There’s a great missed opportunity to make Harkyn an interesting character by putting in some flashbacks highlighting what some of the symbols mean, what crimes he committed to earn them, and whether he was just in his actions. But instead, Harkyn is not much more than a gravelly voice in a muscular and armored up shell that can be either a jerk or a saint depending on the player’s arbitrary choices.

The actual lore of the world doesn’t fare much better, relying on audio logs to tell its story. But the problem is that these audio logs are typically poorly placed. Sometimes they’re placed right before a fight against an enemy, which makes it so you can’t concentrate on what’s being said. Or they’re even placed right before a cutscene, which will immediately cut off the audio log.

Add in a few throwaway and stereotypical NPC’s and a plot twist that could be seen coming from a mile away and you can see that Lords of the Fallen’s story has some issues.

But the star of Lords of the Fallen isn’t Harkyn or the story, it’s the combat. Taking several pages out of From Software’s playbook, combat in Lords of the Fallen feels very similar to the combat from Demon’s and Dark Souls. Light attacks are mapped to the right bumper, heavy attacks on the right trigger, and your shield on the left bumper. Every action that you perform drains your stamina, whether it be an attack, block, roll, or sprint, so stamina management is crucial to your survival.

The big difference is that Lords of the Fallen feels much weightier than any of the Souls games ever did. Most attacks have a significant windup and feel appropriately devastating when they hit with a satisfying bone crunching sound effect. This carries over to enemies as well, who also attack with a little more wind up and a little less ferocity than you might be used to if you’re coming off of the Souls games.

To compensate for the slower attacks of your enemies, rolling out of the way is much less effective. There’s very little invulnerability offered when you perform an evasive roll, meaning you’ll usually get hit while in the middle of it. And unless you’ve got light armor and a small weapon, you probably won’t be able to counter-attack very effectively either.

So shields quickly become very important in Lords of the Fallen. There are three different types of shields, each aimed towards a different combat focus. Bucklers are meant for agility based classes and offer very little defense, but give the unique ability to parry and riposte enemy attacks. The slower attacks of enemies and a generous timing window, combined with the large bonus to critical damage that most agility weapons offer, do a great job of making bucklers a viable option for dealing with large enemies with giant shields.

Kite shields have the relatively useless ability to shield bash an enemy, but they do offer good protection without weighing down your character too substantially. Tower shields are gigantic and heavy shields that grant Harkyn the unique ability to plant the shield into the ground and brace behind it to mitigate the damage from an otherwise devastating strike.

Another important aspect about shields that the game neglects to teach you until much later, is the ability to shield charge. This can be done with all shields by running and then holding down the left bumper to bring up your shield. Shield charges can knock down or stagger enemies, making this one of the very few effective ways of dealing with the aforementioned large enemies with giant shields.

In preparation for the upcoming Dark Souls 2 DLC, Crown of the Old Iron King, From Software will be dropping another calibrations patch that seems especially focused on nerfing magic users, especially those with faith builds.

Calibration 1.10, which drops on August 25, will reduce the damage of 15 spells including, Lightning Spear, Great Lightning Spear, Sunlight Spear, Emit Force, Soul Geyser, Soul Shower, Soul Spear and Crystal Soul Spear just to name a few of the big ones.

This patch especially hurts faith-based characters who were already slapped silly with the nerf stick back in patch 1.08 when From Software reduced the number of casts of lightning spear from 11 down to three, among other nerfs aimed specifically at offensive miracles. Though, to be fair, Lightning Spears were pretty overpowered pre-patch, and now the pendulum seems to have swung back entirely in the other direction.

Below you can find the full patch notes from Beyond the Bonfire. Be sure to check out our own James Heaney’s Dark Souls 2 walkthrough as well and see how this patch affects his faith-based character as he gets closer and closer to beating the game.

The following fixes, changes, and refinements are included in the update:
• Undead Crypt: Fixed the bell not ringing if you continuously attack the bell that appears after Ledia’s shaman appears.

• Spells “Sacred Oath” and “Bountiful Sunlight”
o Casting this on one’s self will now diffuse all support effects
o Having it cast by someone else will not diffuse other support effects
o Casting spells on yourself to create other support effects after having these used will diffuse the effect of the above spells
(players cannot use the effects of these spells in conjunction with other effects from spells they cast on themselves)

• Spells “Numbness” and “Resonant Flesh”
o Casting this on one’s self will now diffuse all support effects
o Casting spells on yourself to create other support effects after having these used will diffuse the effect of the above spells
(players cannot use the effects of these spells in conjunction with other effects from spells they cast on themselves)

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/upcoming-dark-souls-2-patch-nerfs-lightning-spears-even-further/feed/11Tune In as James Takes on the Dark Souls 2 Walkthrough Live!http://www.gamefront.com/tune-in-as-james-takes-on-the-dark-souls-2-walkthrough-live/
http://www.gamefront.com/tune-in-as-james-takes-on-the-dark-souls-2-walkthrough-live/#commentsWed, 07 May 2014 17:51:12 +0000Jeff Millshttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=272646Watch live video from GameFront on www.twitch.tv Tune in at 12pm PST as James and Mitch take on Dark Souls...

Watch as James and Mitch take us through the dungeons of Dark Souls 2 on expert difficulty. They call this a walkthrough, but we all know why we watch him play. While his victory dance is something to behold, we’re more interested in the creative ways he finds to die around every corner. Don’t worry James, we still love you. Twitch.tv fans, don’t hesitate to torment him as much as you possibly can. Remember, he still didn’t call his grandmother and curse her out yet!

Catch more streams on the GameFront Twitch Channel, and don’t forget to hit up the GameFront YouTube Channel for even more great videos.

We’re at part 7 of the journey through New Game+ difficulty mode in Dark Souls 2. Join Mitch live at 4pm PDT on our twitch.tv page asking him questions, critiquing his decisions, basically what you already do on twitch.

Catch more streams on the GameFront Twitch Channel, and don’t forget to hit up the GameFront YouTube Channel for even more great videos.

Hit up our twitch.tv channel at 4 p.m. PDT to keep up with Mitchell as he enters the sixth part of his deadly second run through the game. Chit-chat with Mitch as he tries not to get killed around every other corner.

Catch more streams on the GameFront Twitch Channel, and don’t forget to hit up the GameFront YouTube Channel for even more great videos.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/mitch-continues-his-quest-through-dark-souls-2-new-game-live/feed/0From Software Purchased by Lollipop Chainsaw Publisherhttp://www.gamefront.com/from-software-purchased-by-lollipop-chainsaw-publisher/
http://www.gamefront.com/from-software-purchased-by-lollipop-chainsaw-publisher/#commentsMon, 28 Apr 2014 18:30:05 +0000Stew Shearerhttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=271800From Software is being purchased by the publisher Kadokawa. The sale was revealed as a part of the company’s financial...

The sale was revealed as a part of the company’s financial reports where it confirmed that it will be purchasing 80 percent of the Dark Souls developer. Kadokawa will be purchasing this share from the studio’s current owners at Trans Comos. The sale will complete on May 21st.

Kadokawa, which in the past has published and developed games including Lollipop Chainsaw, Killer is Dead, Natural Doctrine, Demon Gaze and The Kantai Collection, has stated that the acquisition is being done as a move to expand the company’s current offerings to include new IPs, overseas markets and a wider variety of platforms.

With the release of the PC version of Dark Souls 2, many of us now have access to an edition of From Software’s action-RPG we’re ready to plunk down cash to have.

But as Mitchell Saltzman pointed out in his preview of the PC version, don’t expect graphics in the PC version that are on par with what was shown off during previews like the one at E3 2013. The graphics have been significantly scaled back in the retail release — or maybe they were just amped up for press and excited fans.

That said, you’re still going to want to take a look at James Heaney’s video directly comparing the PC version with the Playstation 3 version of Dark Souls 2. It’ll highlight exactly what you’re getting when you snag Dark Souls 2 on Steam. There definitely seems to be some visual improvement on the PC side, although it can be hard to spot: both versions are pretty similar when it comes to graphical fidelity.

Have you already snagged Dark Souls 2 for consoles, or have you been holding out for a PC version? Let us know what you think of the video in the comments.

Our own Mitchell Saltzman is working to best Dark Souls 2′s New Game+ mode even as we speak, and you can join him (metaphorically).

Hit up our twitch.tv channel at 4 p.m. PDT to keep up with Mitchell as he enters the fifth part of his deadly second run through the game. Talk with Mitch in the chat and you may even be able to berate him into dying! Or whatever it is people do on Twitch. It’s all in good fun.

Catch more streams on the GameFront Twitch Channel, and don’t forget to hit up the GameFront YouTube Channel for even more great videos.